1 language learning in early childhood preview

subtractive bilingualism
. It can have negative
consequences for children’s self-esteem, and their relationships with family
members are also likely to be affected by such early loss of the family
language. In these cases, children seem to continue to be caught between two
languages: they have not yet mastered the school language, and they have not
continued to develop the family language. During the transition period, they
may fall behind in their academic learning. Unfortunately, the ‘solution’
educators sometimes propose to parents is that they should stop speaking the
family language at home and concentrate instead on speaking the school
language with their children.
The research evidence suggests that a better approach is to strive for 
additive
bilingualism
—the maintenance of the home language while the L2 is being
learned. This is especially true if the parents are also learners of the L2. If
parents continue to use the language that they know best with their children,
they are able to express their knowledge and ideas in ways that are richer and
more elaborate than they can manage in a language they do not know as well.
Using their own language in family settings is also a way for parents to
maintain their own self-esteem, especially as they may have their own
struggles with the new language outside the home, at work or in the
community. Maintaining the family language also allows children to retain
family connections with grandparents or relatives who do not speak the new
language. They benefit from the opportunity to continue both cognitive and
affective development using a language they understand easily while they are
still learning the L2. Ofelia García (2009) and number of other educators and
researchers use the term 
translanguaging
 to focus attention on the fact that
multilingual individuals and communities do not draw on their languages as
separate systems but rather draw on elements of a unified underlying
communicative repertoire when they seek to understand or make themselves
understood in different contexts. We will return to this topic in 
Chapter 2
.

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Other positive effects of bilingual or multilingual development go beyond
those that accrue to the children and their families. Knowledge of more than
one language can also increase opportunities for cross-cultural
communication and economic cooperation among people. As we have seen,
L2 learning takes motivation, opportunity, and lots of time. But teachers,
parents, and students need to know that the many benefits of additive
bilingualism will reward their patience and effort.
Summary
In this chapter, we have focused on some of the research on children’s early
language development that has influenced research on L2 acquisition. We
have described three broad theoretical perspectives for explaining L1
acquisition. In 
Chapter 2
, we will look at some of the findings of research
examining the developing language of L2 learners.